(Update #1) Sri Venkateswara Thiru Kalayaana Mahotsavam in Singapore

Work has already started at the Singapore Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple for the mega event – the Sri Venkateswara Thiru Kalyanam Mahotsavam.

However, in my opinion, choosing the temple grounds to host this function has not been a smart move by the temple committee. There are two main reasons why I say this.

1) The tentage that has been erected will not be able to cater to the thousands of devotees expected on that day. Some of you may dispute this but you will understand what I mean when you come to the temple on that day.

2) The preparation for this event comes at a price and sadly, it is the temple’s history that is paying the price for it. Let me eplain:

a) Right until last week, there used to be a concrete trough between the temple and the kalyana mandapam. This trough has been in the temple grounds for more than 30 years and was used during the annual Theerathavaari held during the Brahmothsavam and Pavitra Utsavam. That trough has now been broken and removed to make way for the tentage (picture 1). Sure, once this Kalayaana utsavam is over, the trough will be rebuilt but will this bring back its history??

Picture 1: The remains of the temple tank

b) Next, there was a mango tree which has been in the temple since its first kumbabishegam in 1965. The leaves and fruits of this tree were used in numerous temple functions. However, since it was blocking the building of a stage, the temple decided to fell the tree without even giving it a thought. Again a part of history just down the drain!

Picture 2: What is left of the Mango Tree

c) Picture 3 & 4 shows the only remaining tree in the present temple that was spared the axe. There were many trees in the temple compound in the old days but all were felled one by one to make way for more space in the temple. This tree however, was saved because it was an aala-maram. Hindus consider this tree auspicious and since this is the only remaining tree left in this temple, it is also the temple’s stala vriksham or the sacred temple tree. Once again, a huge branch was in the way of this tentage and you can guess what happened next. Well, the contractor who was putting up this stage used the crane to crudely shear off the branch and no one from the temple was there to supervise what was going on. I just hope this tree lives on…

Crane shearing off the branch with force

Picture 5: Crane shearing off the branch with force

I will be proving more updates about the progress in the weeks to come. Post your comments if you have any. Thanks.

Narayana Narayana

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This entry was posted on July 7, 2008 at 7:47 pm and is filed under SSPT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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